Somebody needs to light a fire beneath the Cincinnati Bengals' defense, and perhaps Rex Ryan is just the man for the job.
Once upon a time, Ryan was the head coach of the New York Jets and led them to two straight AFC Championship Games. Cincinnati accomplished that feat too many moons ago, and are on course to miss the playoffs for the third season running since then.
Ryan had some choice words for the Bengals' defensive unit, none of it particularly positive. His rant came in response to Chase Brown's profane postgame monologue, which implored the defense to do better.
Rex Ryan: Future Bengals defensive coordinator?
With a hat tip to Awful Announcing, Rex Ryan was in his usual seat on ESPN's Get Up show on Monday morning where he proceeded to admonish the Bengals for dismissing defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo in favor of Notre Dame's Al Golden.
"They got rid of a highly respected defensive coordinator in Lou Anarumo, so who you gonna bring in there? Buddy Ryan? Bill Belichick? Me? You ain't going to afford me. But I'm going to tell you…you bring in a college guy, and this happens to you. So the team has no confidence right now. Zero. You better rally this thing together. The only way we're going to dig out of this, is we gotta do it collectively.”
Perhaps Ryan isn't in the know about how Golden was the Bengals' linebackers coach from 2020 to 2021. Zac Taylor had familiarity with Golden, who was just coming off a sensational season for the Fighting Irish.
Regardless, I get the general sentiment of Ryan's statement. It's just that, based on the Bengals' personnel as it stands, it doesn't feel like Bill Belichick, Rex Ryan, or anyone could help them out.
Before Week 9's abysmal 47-42 loss to the Bears, Golden spoke to the local media and, in essence, said Cincinnati's front seven can't execute any exotic calls from his play sheet. They're forced to play more simplistic schemes, with the hope that the Bengals can play faster without being so in their heads. They can't even get basic schemes right.
Not that firing Golden is going to necessarily fix anything. Heck, Lou Anarumo is now in charge of a 7-2 Colts team that has its own flaws, yet he's finding a way to keep Indy atop the AFC as the current No. 1 seed.
For the sheer entertainment value alone, my take is that the Bengals should get a new voice in the locker room, and who better than Rex Ryan?
Think about it. The players aren't buying what Golden is selling. Ryan is one of the most respected defensive minds of his generation. He's itching to get back into coaching. He doesn't strike me as the type who'd take a lower-rung assistant job, considering he tossed his hat into the ring for the Jets' head coaching vacancy this offseason before they hired Aaron Glenn.
If nothing else, Ryan brings a lot of juice and passion to a defense that 's wanting for it. He isn't shy about holding players accountable. Even in the event Ryan brought some more complex looks to Cincinnati's D, it's not like the players could do a worse job of executing than they are now!
The Cincinnati Bengals now have the second-worst defense through 9 games by DVOA, since 1978. Only the 1979 49ers were worse.
— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@ASchatzNFL) November 3, 2025
Part of the issue: the Bengals have actually played one of the easiest schedules of opposing offenses. pic.twitter.com/vcKteBd4dA
What's there to lose? Serious question.
The famously frugal Bengals may have to pay a premium to get Ryan away from his cushy TV job. Nevertheless, I could see ol' Rex being up for the challenge. he'd be landing with a franchise that employs Joe Burrow at quarterback when he's healthy, and it'd be a rather low-risk, high-reward proposition to bolster his head coaching prospects for the future.
It'll probably have to wait until next year, as Taylor stuck by Golden and said no staff changes will be made in his Monday press conference, per ESPN's Ben Baby.